Report: Violations and possibilities of enforcing migrant workers’ rights in the Visegrad countries

July 13, 2018

Consortium partner Multicultural Centre Prague has published a report as part of the project STRONGLAB. This research is focusing on the patterns of wide-spread Ukrainian labour migration to Visegard Group (V4) countries and unveils a common trend of unfavourable working conditions for migrant workers. Labour rights violations, precarious employment and substandard working conditions amongst temporary and low-skilled Ukranian workers are of no exception in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic despite heterogeneous migration patterns between the countries.

The project “Towards stronger transnational labour enforcement cooperation on labour migration” is based on qualitative research conducted in the V4 countries and Ukraine on emerging trends and employment patterns among Ukrainians working in low-skilled professions, the results of which you can find on the project website. General trends include low job security, an ongoing erosion in the quality of employment forms and high employer dependency. Another issue is a lack of support networks for undocumented migrants. Without proper resources, they could face fines, deportation and a ban on entry. A vast majority of the interviewees have found employment in informal labour-intensive sectors such as hospitality, tourism, construction, and manufacturing through intermediaries.

To continue to read, and for more information on the project, visit their website.